Wow.. has it really been 2+ months since I last wrote a blog post? June and early July were tough months running wise.. I'm not sure what happened, but I really lost a lot of my motivation to run. I was discouraged because I was not where I wanted to be, distance wise or time wise and I really let that get me down. In June I ran 20 miles, and in July I only ran 14.
Towards the end of July, I started getting my motivation back and was getting back in my groove. Right around my birthday, I signed up to be matched with somebody to dedicate my runs for. The group is called WhoIrun4 and it matches runners with special needs children and adults. On July 29th, I received a message that, after almost 2 weeks of waiting, I had finally received my match - Hayden. Hayden is a four year old boy diagnosed with Spina Bifida and Arnold Chiari II brain malformation. He is such a special boy. In the short few weeks that I have known him, he has inspired and motivated me so much. He works hard in therapy every day, but throughout the duration of our match, he has been preparing and recovering from surgery. In his short four years of life, he has had 10 surgeries and is currently scheduled for his 11th. A few weeks ago he had surgery to have a Gtube inserted and now he is waiting on the 25th for his spine surgery. Hayden loves trains, especially Thomas. He has sent me a few video messages, cheering me on for my runs and it really brightens my day. My mom saw his most recent message, and it made her realize how special he - and this match program, really is.
Since we have been matched, I have not missed one run. I have been running 5 days a week, with two rest days. At the beginning of August, I also signed up for the half marathon training program again. I was nervous because I was not where I wanted to be. I had wanted to get myself down to a 10 minute mile before starting this again, but I didn't. I could have easily said that I would put it off until next year; however, I am not going to live my life "getting ready" to live life.
I have realized that I probably won't ever get to a point where my runs are always improving. I'm going to have good days, and I'm going to have bad days and that is ok. The bad runs will make me appreciate the good runs even more. I'm on vacation right now with my husband and his side of our family, and my runs have not been great. I have made the mileage I needed to, but they were VERY slow runs. Instead of beating myself up about it, I have accepted that it is very hilly here, and that my runs are not going to be perfect. Hey - I'm just happy that I'm running on vacation as I've always said I was going to work out on vacation, and NEVER have. Prior to vacation, my runs with the group have been really good. I've improved on my time and distance, which makes me happy. I have also been the most consistent with my running that I have in a long time. I've been running a lot with Sully and I've been meeting up with a friend twice a week, which has been awesome.
I'll upload some pictures of my runs from this vacation when I get back. Running alongside the lake has been amazing. I just wanted to stop by and post a quick update to tell you all what has been going on in my life lately. It's been good!
